GFSD LETTER TO BIDDERS FOR MOPA AIRPORT PROJECT
GVK Airport Developers Private Limited,
GMR Airports Limited,
Voluptas Developers Pvt. Ltd.,
Essel Infra Projects Ltd.,
Airports Authority of India
January 14, 2015
Dear Sirs,
GOANS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT is an umbrella organization of non political
concerned citizen groups who have come together seeking implementation of a
sustainable development model for the State of Goa, that will halt the
ecological, social and economic crises faced by Goa today as a consequence of
the untenable model that Goa has been subjected to in the past.
As one of the bidders for the proposed PPP Airport project at Mopa, Pernem
taluka, North Goa, we write to make you aware that citizen groups have raised a
number of objections questioning the very need for a second airport in Goa.
These groups have formally drawn the attention of the government in writing, to
a number of anomalies in the various processes related to the proposed Mopa
Airport process as follows :
1. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report prepared by the Government
regarding the environmental, economic and social dimensions of Mopa plateau and
its surrounding villages is based on tenuous and incompletely gathered data.
Hence it has failed to reveal the real facts pertaining to the biodiversity,
water resources, agriculture, inhabitant communities and other aspects of the
plateau, thereby concealing the disastrous impact of such a project on them.
Today, as seen at the CoP Paris Summit, the world is feeling the impact of
decades of environmental abuse. Years of reckless exploitation have taken their
toll and a vengeful Nature has risen in furious protest. We are sure you will
appreciate that there is no reason that such an injustice be inflicted upon
innocent residents of the area, who will be called upon to bear the brunt of
Nature’s inevitable retaliation to such an assault without even being permitted
to be part of such a decision.
2. The Mopa plateau and its forests form a complete and independent biosphere
of the highest ecological and biodiversity quality. Being a critical part of
the Western Ghats, it needs to be marked as a World Heritage Site and carefully
conserved for the health and well-being of all local and global denizens.
3. The highly sensitive plateau provides water, food and numerous other
life-sustaining resources for thousands of families, who will all be displaced
if the project is not stopped. Similarly, the rich wildlife and biodiversity of
the plateau will be lost and numerous rare and endangered species will perish.
4. Goa is suffering from rapid loss of its water resources and has already
reached a stage of undesirable and avoidable dependency on other states to meet
its present water requirement. Our agricultural lands and our precious plateaus
are also being lost to real estate, industries etc. The unsolvable issues of
garbage, sewage, inflation, pollution, displacement of locals, loss of values
and culture all confirm that we have crossed the carrying capacity of Goa and
any more change in land will permanently impact our
- : 2 : -
environment and economy most disastrously. Constructing a second airport will
destroy the State due to the highway expansion, real estate, SEZs and other
projects needed for artificial growth of traffic necessary to make the second
airport viable.
5. Page 9 of the EIA Report states that the total passenger traffic to/from Goa
in the year 2030 will be around 9 million and by 2040, this figure will
escalate to around 12 million, which can be handled by the existing Dabolim
Airport, making the construction of a second airport at such a colossal cost to
the people and the environment of the State quite unnecessary.
Since the Government of Goa did not think it fit to respond to the numerous
representations made to it by the people, two cases have been filed with the
National Green Tribunal in Pune, disputing the validity and the integrity of
the EIA, and presenting the various environmental concerns of the people.
There have also been many uncleared doubts raised about the legality of the
land acquisition process of the Government regarding the acquisition of land
for this project. A case in regard to this, is pending in the Supreme Court of
India before the SLP (Civil), filed vide Diary No.9699/2014, entitled “Hanuman
Laxman Aroskar & others versus The State of Goa and others”.
With the project being embroiled in three court cases, and facing stiff
opposition from the people, we earnestly urge you to seriously reconsider your
decision to bid for the same, failing which please be aware that GFSD will
continue to educate the public all over Goa as well as internationally, and
carry on a sustained campaign against the thoughtless and destructive Mopa
Airport project.
As fellow human beings and inhabitants of this planet, we earnestly appeal to
you to please abstain from any involvement in the Goa Government’s thoughtless
and ill considered plan that will only take Goa down the path to irreversible
environmental disaster and destruction of our invaluable natural resources.
Looking forward to your co-operation,
Yours truly,
For GFSD
Eremito Rebelo, Rupesh Shinkre Edwin Pinto Ramkrishna Jalmi
